Course Design – OTL570
Preparing for Learning @ WB University
Introduction
WB University is an online portal for training at WB1, Inc.
The Four Phase Learning Cycle
In The Accelerated Learning Handbook (Meier, 2000), the four phase learning cycle is described as
- Preparation
- Presentation
- Practice
- Performance
As I considered this cycle in light of my work as a content developer for WB1, Inc. (a fictional company name), I determined that our self-paced Certification Program included all phases but the first. We provide little or no information about what to expect in the Certification Program, or how to overcome some of the many challenges that our learner face, such as
- Full-time employment, which leaves study time at less than optimal times of the day
- Poor educational track record, poor study skills, and fear of assessments
- Lack of experience with online education
An Optional ‘Preparation for Learning’ Presentation
To address these issues, I decided that an optional “self-help” course could be added to our existing asynchronous LMS. The course consists of a video presentation that employs audio, embedded video, links to websites and online quizzes, as well as traditional text to outline the Certification Program, provide some guidance in fitting their learning into the rest of their lives, help the learner discover his/her learning style and suggest compatible strategies that help with the Certification Program, and address learning barriers. I choose this technology because it is compatible with the existing “learner experience” in our LMS, because it allows me to ‘speak’ to my learners, and because the variety of topics as well as technology approaches will hopefully keep them engaged. I’ve made the course optional because the mission of our online university is the Certification Program, and my self-help course does not contain knowledge and skills related to that Certification Program.
Storyboard for Presentation Video
I’ve included selected pages from the storyboard for my ‘self-help’ course. The final production is meant to be a MP4 video, which includes a Table of Contents/Navigation set to the left side. This allows the learner to direct his/her own learning.
An example of this navigation:
One of the course topics is Setting Learning Goals, and uses a web-based resource.
Another topic is Brain Foods, and uses a video
Another topic is Discovering Learning Styles, which uses a quiz. This is follow up by a discussion of the quiz results, and strategies for using the style to their best advantage.
Full Storyboard, as a PDF.
Quality Matters Analysis
I was deeply impressed by the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric developed by Maryland Online, Inc. when I used it during my OTL541 Final Project. I was impressed by its thorough and logical approach to analyzing a course, so I decided to put my ‘self-help’ course under its microscope. Overall, I found the rubric helpful in the final revisions of the course, and that for those criteria which my course did not meet, I learned that there were substantive reasons for their exclusion.
The table below comes from the Quality Matters™ Rubric Standards 2008-2010 edition with Assigned Value Points. Points shown in red are ones where I felt my course met the standard.
Total points: 8 + 11 + 6 + 9 + 3 + 14 + 3 + 5 = 59. 27 points are not achievable because of the nature of the self-paced, self-help course, and the lack of ADA requirements by the institution.
References
Feller, V. (2010) How to feed your children the top brain foods. Retrieved from http://www.howcast.com/videos/271888-How-To-Feed-Your-Children-the-Top-Brain-Foods
Fleming, N. (2010). VARK: a guide to learning styles. Retrieved from http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire
Kelly, M. (2009). Writing great specific goals. Retrieved from http://712educators.about.com/od/motivation/a/specific_goals.htm
MarylandOnline, Inc. (2009) Quality Matters™ Rubric Standards 2008-2010 edition with Assigned Value Points. Accessed at http://qminstitute.org/home/Public%20Library/About%20QM/RubricStandards2008-2010.pdf
Meier, D. (2000) The accelerated learning handbook. NY: McGraw-Hill
UT Learning Center. (n.d.) Preview, read, recall. Retrieved from http://www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/learning_resources/reading/Preview_Read_Recall.pdf
Visual Thinking Strategies (2010). Retrieved from http://www.vtshome.org/pages/a-vts-discussion#discussion
